While in South Africa, unions can protest publicly if the government takes measures that negatively impact the socio-economic well-being of workers, in Nigeria, unions cannot strike or join public demonstrations unless it is to consider or promote trade disputes. Even if these matters are legal, it is unlikely that essential service workers will be allowed to join the strike, as section 41 of the Industrial Disputes Act prohibits these workers from striking without prior notice to their employer fifteen days before such a strike begins. Emiola and Uvieghara openly admit that once a party has fulfilled one of the conditions set out in the paragraph, it can legitimately strike. They relied on the decision in Eche v. State Education Commission (1993), where the Court held that a strike can only be considered lawful if one of the conditions listed in this paragraph is met. The strict procedure that must be followed before a strike can be considered legal or protected makes it almost impossible to carry out a legal strike. According to him, labour strikes are one of the permitted forms of collective bargaining. It is clear from articles 39, 40 and 41 of the Constitution, in particular article 40, that Nigerian citizens may, by law, form or join a trade union without any restriction and freely express their views without fear or favour. In addition, one of the components of trade unionism is the right or freedom of the union to express itself and to protect the interests of the union and its members through negotiation, collective bargaining and, in the worst case, strike in order to strengthen its demands. More recently, Aero Contractors Co. Of Nigeria Limited v. The National Association of Pilots and Aircraft Engineers, the Nigerian Air Transport Executives Association and the National Air Transport Employees Union[12], the National Labour Court, held that Article 245C of the Constitution confers jurisdiction and competence on the Court to apply any international convention ratified by Nigeria, referred to the work of the Committee of Experts on the Application of ILO Conventions and recommendations to establish that „air travel” „in general” is not an essential service in the strict sense, and therefore the prohibition of strikes does not apply to air travel in general.
The court therefore agreed: „.. that the right to strike and the organisation of trade union meetings are an essential aspect of trade union rights. [3] The definition of strike in this article obviously included „slow” and „work according to domination” in its sense of „cessation of work: and refusal to continue working”. The main objective of collective bargaining is necessarily to obtain a binding contract, an agreement between the union and management, which may include a no-strike clause that prevents strikes or penalizes the union and/or workers if they leave the contract during negotiations and the contract is still in force. Despite concerns from the government and other relevant stakeholders, courts across the country have been suspended since July 6. It closed in April 2021 when members of the Nigerian Judicial Staff Union (JUSUN) began their strike to demand financial autonomy for the judiciary. „You must make the appropriate notice, in a case where the relevant procedures have not been followed, the government will go to court to say that this strike was not called in accordance with the laws of the country. The judiciary also noted this in Bawa & Ors v. Prestige Hotels (1993). The court ruled that a lawful strike is, by definition, appropriate for collective bargaining. The parties are obliged to take negotiations seriously because they fear that if an agreement is not reached, one party could exercise its right to cause economic harm to the other. In Nigeria, the strict processes that must be followed before a strike is legal or protected make it almost impossible to carry out a legal strike.
Furthermore, the conditions set out in section 18 § 1 of the Industrial Disputes and Statutory Disputes Act and failure to comply with the law place a heavy burden on the law by paying a fine, deprivation of liberty or both, as provided for in section 18 (2) of the Act, are a clear expression of the restriction on the right to strike. „For totalitarian regimes that are not run according to purely democratic principles, the strike is a real tool in the hands of workers to negotiate better deals regarding their jobs or general welfare issues. This government has gone on strike because it generally believes that this is the best option to get an agreement from the leadership. „In most cases, the parties still have to come to the roundtable to discuss and agree, which means the strike could have been avoided in the first place. This means that the call should be addressed to those in positions of authority to establish mechanisms that create effective channels of communication between workers and the government. A careful examination of the content of the above section shows that the law recognizes the existence of a strike and therefore sets the conditions for the participation of an employee in strike action. 9) In acute national crises, the employment of workers to replace strikers significantly affects the right to strike and is appropriate only in the case of strikes in an essential service or in an acute national crisis. Former president of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), Dr. Olisa Agbakoba (SAN), said the strike is not a constitutional issue, but a labour law issue that serves to change conditions of employment and resolve grievances. * Law degree, Faculty of Law, Abia State University, Uturu. The author has a great penchant for research, knowledge, legal writing and public speaking. His areas of interest include arbitration, corporate law and litigation.
The cumulative effects of Articles 18 (1) TDA, 31 (6) (a) and (b) and (7) and 12 (4) TEU do not have the effect of prohibiting the right to strike for Nigerian workers. This is the result of the provisions of Article 11 of the Law on Human and Peoples` Rights (Ratification and Implementation) and Article 89 of the ILO Convention, which provides for freedom of association and freedom of collective bargaining of the Union. Nigeria, as a member of these organizations, which has ratified these conventions, cannot prohibit strikes. Even if they have not ratified these Conventions, the mere fact of their accession, which derives from freedom of association, obliges them to respect the right to strike. The constitutional provision of section 40 of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, which is equivalent to section 11 of the Human and Peoples` Rights (Ratification and Implementation) Act and section 8 (1) (a) of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, guarantees the use of strikes by the simple fact that: that people are free to join associations and unions of their choice. the defence of their interests and the interests of their organization, the right to strike becoming a fundamental right insofar as it is not contrary to the provisions of Article 45 of the Nigerian Constitution of 1999. Section 31 (6) (e) of the Trade Union Act also imposes conditions on the trade union, in particular in paragraph 6(e), before calling its members to strike. Section 77 of the South African Industrial Relations Act also allows trade unions to protest against policies detrimental to the socio-economic interests of workers. It follows that if the government takes measures detrimental to the economic well-being of workers, the union can publicly protest against these policies (political activism). More interestingly, union members can participate in political activism.
You may participate in protests against government policies detrimental to the socio-economic welfare of the general public, provided that such employees are not involved in the provision of essential services under section 77(1) of the South African Industrial Relations Act. Unlike Nigeria, where the right to strike is prohibited and punishable by fines and imprisonment, the right to strike is protected and guaranteed by the South African Constitution. This makes the protected or legal strike very functional. Both workers and employers know that if their collective bargaining fails, one of the parties has an unhindered right to strike and the parties therefore take their negotiations and agreements seriously. Regarding the JUSUN strike, Adegboruwa said the action is for the benefit of lawyers, judges, litigants and the legal profession as a whole to solve the real problems once and for all, adding that the general thinking of most state governors is to lock up the courts and deprive the judicial system of funds to make them ineffective. so that anarchy can flourish unchallenged or, when challenged, unchecked.